Vicksburg, Mississippi – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears continued their blazing start to the season on Saturday, defeating Alcorn State and Northeastern State in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The 7-0 start is the best start to a season Central Arkansas has had since moving to Division I in 2006.

The Sugar Bears (7-0) opened the day with a 4-0 win over Alcorn State. UCA took the doubles point as Amiru Shimoguchi and Marli Van Heerden won the no. 1 match 6-3 over Natalia Parchowska and Daria Chemadanova and Hee-Jin Oh and Xylia Chunan Xiang teamed to win the no. 3 match 6-0 over Anasatasia Vaganoca and Bianca Birkenstock. The no. 2 match between QiLi Ma and Rada Manataweewat and Maddison Brackenreg and Klavdija Bukovec went unfinished.

In singles play, Xiang defeated Bukovec 6-1, 6-3 in the no. 3 match, Shimoguchi earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over Parchowska at the no. 4 slot, and Manataweewat took down Brackenreg 6-4, 6-2 at the no. 6 spot. Oh's no. 1 match against Birkenstock went unfinished, as did Ma's no. 2 match against Chemodanove and Van Heerden's no. 5 match with Vaganova.

Against Northeastern State, who entered the match ranked ninth in the nation at the Divison II level, the Sugar Bears again staked themselves to an early lead by taking the doubles point. Pornpawee Pramethong and Van Heerden edged out Molly Worden and Val Efimenko 7-6 in the no. 1 match, while Ma and Manataweewat took down Caitlin McCullough and Easton Parker 6-2 in the no.2 match. Shimoguchi and Oh completed the doubles sweep with a 7-6 win over Karla Tomaic and Betha Gombarova.

The Riverhawks (5-4) got on the board early in singles play, as Worden defeated Pramethong 6-4, 6-3 in the no.1 match, but Oh got the point back at the no. 2 slot, taking down Efimenko 6-3, 6-2. NSU got another point at the no. 3 slot, where McCullough earned a 6-1, 7-6 (5-0) win over Shimoguchi, but the Ma kept the Sugar Bears on pace with a 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Parker at the no. 4 slot. Van Heerden picked up a 6-1, 6-4 win over Tomaic at the no. 5 slot and Manataweewat cloded out the match with a  6-4, 6-4 victory over Gombarova in the no. 6 match.

Central Arkansas will return to action a week from tomorrow, playing a pair of matches in Springfield, Missouri on February 26^th. The Sugar Bears will face off with Creighton at 9:00 AM, before taking on Missouri State at 10:00 AM.